Chapter 103

Chapter 103

Translator: Yonnee

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“W-What’s wrong with my naaame! Rosé gave it to meee…!”

Blanc finally answered back! I stood behind him.

“Yeah, what’s wrong with Blanc?! It suits him a lot and it’s cute! It’s great at expressing his personality!”

The blue dragon remained silent. As if it’s not worth his effort to answer me at all.[1]

“And on that note though, I would like to know the name of the one we’re talking to right now.”

“I gave it to myself—I am Alexander, traverser of dimensions! Very cool, right?”

Alexander’s eyes sparkled. And even the way he explained his name was in a flashy manner. It’s as if it’s his lifelong dream to present his name in this way.

“…Well, it’s not like I can use it anymore.”

Alexander’s bravado in announcing his name soon abated. Because it was now a dream that he wouldn’t be able to achieve.

He could evidently feel his body’s condition worsening. As I watched his gloomy face, I couldn’t reply right away.

“I almost reached it… Damn it all, a dragon like me is dying, but how come you’ll live?”

“Our Blanc is very very smart.”

I answered in Blanc’s stead because he had closed his mouth shut. Blanc didn’t normally show many emotions on his face, but he strangely seemed annoyed. Indeed, Alexander had a knack for grating at other people’s nerves.

“I just followed Mother’s wooords…”

“So you really just slept? I guess that’s amazing, too, in its own way…”

Alexander looked like he was genuinely admiring Blanc. He looked at me and Blanc as we stood before him proudly.

“In any case, I’m going to die anyway, so just watch the masterpiece I’ll be leaving behind in my wake. I’m going to make sure that people remember that I once existed.”

And the masterpiece he was talking about was a disaster. The disaster that a dragon’s death could cause varied from one case to another, so it couldn’t be defined as just one singular disaster. Still, I heard that quite a few people had been swept by the impact of it, and in some severe cases, there were resulting deaths as well.

Could dragons decide what kind of disaster they’d leave behind, or would it be based on the dragon’s characteristics?

I asked him cautiously.

“Can you decide what disaster you’ll be causing?”

Blinking at me as he heard my question, Alexander looked at me as though I was the most pathetic person in the world.

“Of course. Wouldn’t it only be fair that I can do whatever I want to do with the last of my power?”

“Yes, of course, I’m very sorry. I’m not well informed on the subject.”

He looked surprised when I apologized right away, still blinking at me dazedly. He coughed and moved onto the next topic.

“Why are you here anyway? Are you here to attend my funeral? You do know that we’re not close to each other, right?”

“I willingly came here to see you.”

“You’re a human though, so why?”

“I’m thinking of becoming Blanc’s contractor, so I wanted to talk to you.”

Contractor.

Alexander froze the moment the word was uttered.

“…I didn’t think you’d be such a dunce… Do you know what’s going to happen to you when entering a contract?”

“I know what it entails. If I become a dragon’s contractor, I will have to bear the same pain that Blanc will feel as he goes through the ordeal of becoming an adult dragon. And it’s an immeasurable pain beyond imagination. That’s why I’m here to face that fear.”

Alexander stared at me.

“I would like to witness what it is that I’m the most afraid of, and that’s the end of a dragon’s life. I want to see the disaster that you’ll be leaving behind, to realize just what kind of pain I will feel.”

The blue dragon’s red eyes, so similar to Albert’s, stared straight through me.

As though he could read me entirely.

Who I was, whether I meant what I said or not. He carefully observed my eyes, my countenance, my voice, my expression.

While he observed me wordlessly, I spoke.

“That’s why I’d like to apologize in advance. I’m truly sorry.”

“Why are you apologizing?”

“Because I’m using your death in this way, Lord Alexander. I don’t think it’s right for someone who’s experiencing their last moments in this way.”

Liam had no attachments to the dragon. For him, Alexander’s death was nothing but a way to knock Rosteratu down a peg.

“Of course, if this is the end that you’ve decided on, I don’t have a right to say anything.”

“……”

“But after this, I will try to make sure that a proper funeral will be held for you. So that you can leave with a lighter heart.”

I was merely a maid, so I had no authority to organize a funeral. But I wasn’t lying when I said I’d try. I’ll hold his funeral as best as I can.

Hearing my words, Alexander averted his gaze.

“I don’t know why you’re being so generous when we’re just using each other.”

“If this is something that I can do as a person, then it’s something I’ll do.”

Alexander said nothing back. He opened and closed his mouth a few times, as if he was choosing his words, but it really seemed like he was speechless.

“…Yeah, there are humans like you in the world.”

Alexander muttered to himself, then made eye contact with me.

“…How long has it been since someone else said my name, I wonder.”

A faint sigh came through his jagged teeth. Then, he glanced at Blanc.

It’s an emotion that he didn’t need to verbalize. Alexander, too, seemed to think he didn’t need to say it.

That he was genuinely envious.

“…Why was it so difficult for me, but so easy for you.”

“……”

“This, too, must be part of life.”

Alexander looked exactly the same as when we first saw him, but at this very moment, he seemed like a wise man who had just awoken from a very deep slumber.

I was about to say some words of comfort, but Alexander spoke up in a straightforward tone.

“Well, you’re just in time, I guess. I’ll tell you exactly what it means to be a contractor.”

“What are you…”

I was going to ask what he was talking about, but Alexander rose on his feet.

“I mean to say, stay with me when I die.”

The scales densely embedded on his back shone beneath the moonlight.

“Now then, tell those humans waiting outside.”

The dragon, who had been expressing many different emotions just now—

“It’s time for me to die.”

—was expressionless as he spoke of his own death.

At that moment, Alexander looked as colossal as an adult dragon that I’d only ever seen in a book.

Then, he slowly walked deeper into the cabin. He went back to the perch where Blanc and I first saw him when we came in. Soon, Alexander closed his eyes.

His deep sigh was exceptionally loud.

¹ Keep in mind that Blanc is supposed to be more like ‘Whitey’, i.e. a very common name that you might give your white kitty or puppy. ↩